Friday, November 15, 2013

It funny how certain food memories stick in your brain, and
this maple walnut cranberry sauce is the result of one such remembrance. I
can’t tell you when or where, but sometime during my formative years I saw a
cranberry sauce loaded with chopped walnuts, and I totally freaked.

Not
outwardly, as I have a decent poker face, but inside I was like, “what the hell
is that?” That’s how it was for me early in life. If I saw a food
prepared differently from the way I’d always seen it, I just assumed it was a
terrible idea. Like ketchup on a hot dog…okay, so I happened to be right that
time, but generally it’s not a great attitude to have.

As I pondered this season’s annual Thanksgiving cranberry
sauce, and which styles I hadn’t tried yet, I remembered how off-putting that
walnut-studded version was, and I decided to face my demons. I’m happy to
report, as usual, I was totally wrong. It works perfectly.Besides the nuts, I really enjoyed the job the maple syrup
did sweetening the acidic berries. I recommend using a Grade B maple syrup if
you can find it. It’s darker and thicker, and boasts a stronger maple flavor,
so it’s the preferred syrup for cooking and baking by those in the know (also
know as, “Canadians”).

So, if you’re looking for new and exciting cranberry sauce
recipe this holiday season, I hope you give this a try. You’d be nuts not to.
Enjoy!

20 comments:

HI! I posted this comment on the youtube video as well but I thought you might have more chances of seeing it if I posted it here:

I'm really glad you talked about the maple syrup types. As a Canadian from Quebec, from a family who used to produce maple syrup in small quantities, we know that the darkest the maple syrup is, the sweetest it is (because it's been boiled longer). Don't let yourself be fooled by a seller who's gonna tell you the lightest one is the ''clearest, best'' one (honestly he just wants to sell you the one which costs the less to produce). Some say the darkest ones come from the latest harvest, I don't know how true is that, but it's best to get one in the beginning of the season and that has been boiled more. That's it! :) Enjoy, looks delicious.

This sounds like cranberry sauce from my childhood! :) I LOVE walnuts in C. sauce. (Of course I love the texture of nuts in so so so many things!) Nice one, Chef! TY for always tossing out such great holiday recipes every year!

So far, so good. I have tasted it at hot and room temps, and can't wait for the taste test after refrigeration!

I found a tip which may be useful in regard to the walnuts. I lack the skill of doing as the video, so I toasted the walnuts and transferred them to the same type colander used for rinsing the cranberries, and then used a spoon to stir the nuts so that the tiny particles would fall through, getting rid of the bitter bits. Hope that helps someone.

Hey Chef John, loved this recipe. Making it again for Christmas... do you think adding a star anise would improve upon it without changing the flavor too drastically? I really like how the flavor is right now but I want to experiment with adding star anise since I feel like it would go well with the rest of the flavors?

Thank you for all of your delicious Thanksgiving recipes!! I am wondering if there is a recipe for the cranberry sauce without using any processed sugar? My husband and I do not eat any processed sugar and I have had a difficult time finding recipes that don't include it. The maple syrup is a good ingredient, however, the sugar is still part of the recipe...help!! Thank you!!

I made this tonight but substituted apple juice for the alcohol and it came out great. I also doubled the recipe while I was at it and it looks like we'll have enough cranberry sauce for an army! Great recipe and video, CJ. Scott